Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-09-17

cents head on Sill cattle sold. The So
or Sc for hay, the $50 or $50 for freight
and the commission were deducted from
the gross sales and the balance sent the
producer. Now, under the plsn of the
pool, when msu brings in train Of
cattle it will at once be turned over to
Armour & Co through the msnsger Of
the pool. The good cattle are selected
and the poor ones are turned over TO 90
agent and sold fer feeders or disposed OF
in some way. This, it can be readily IN
derstood will do much TO keep the poorer
quality OF beef off the market. The pro-
Queer saves his 90 cents COMMISSION.
Amour & Co. will take the ofal. hide,
etc, ST say 50, for they have market
where they can dispose OF it. The pro-
Queer, therefore, Will really net Just what
the dressed beef sells for-or @ little
more, as the So paid will be, l should
think, 81 least IS more than the cost OF
getting the cattle 10 market.
"Will it put up the price Of beef to the
benefit of the producer?"
81 don't know that It will. But they
Will be satisfied with getting a iull price
for their beef. AS il is now they are far
from satisfied. Take i5 at the stock yards
almost any time. Two cattlemen come
in with lots from the sEme range, double
wintere6, and of equal value. They will
be sold by different commission men and
there will be q difference Of 81 or 81 80
per 100 in the price. Under the pool the
supply will be regulated and this will not
occur"
"How will the firms outside Of Armour
& Co. be affected"
GAN the cattlemen are not going into
the pool, and on such firms as Swift &
Co. it Will have 10 effect They cen get
all TIE beet they want. They will be il
the market to buy anyway, and will buy.
There is belief among Cattlemen, of
course, that these packing firms are
growing enormously rich st their expense.
There is no denying the fact thst they sre
wealthy. Swift & Co. took venture and
have succeeded wonderfully, but by legit-
innate business methods, | think. The
pool is en- experiment. As l say, it is
10 be thoroughly tested. While l knew
of the preliminary arrangements, l have
paid little attention to it, and the light
have to give is meager."
ANEX PERTINENT.
Mr. K. B. Armour of the Armour Pack
ing Company Was seen st his residence
!
he had heard of some such 6 scheme
abou! month ago, and that g meeting
had been held at that time, but
that nothing YVES accomplished. He was
not aware that meeting had been held
Saturday until he saw an account of it i
the Times yesterday.
"Whet effect will such a combination
have on the business of this city?
81 don't know that it will have much
effect one way or the other There is q
large number Of small shippers who send
say five or six cars to the market au-
Du.lly that will not become members Of
the organization. This class of shippers
is growing larger every year. OF course
tbs organization is intended to do aWay
With commission men, but I think thSt
it viii not amount to much in this city
from the fIct that there will be plenty of
business outside Of the city. The
packing Will be done in Chicago l
suppose, st least l have no i'd
vices TO the contrary. AS l understand
il, they will first make test, and il it
proves satisfactory then & permanent Or
&snization will be formed and they will
/ try 20 extend their power and Include ell
| classes OF cattle raisers. The present as
soCistion only applies to range cattle.
! When Mr.. +. Z. Richardson, secretary
! Of the Kansas City Stock Yards Company,
was asked what he thought about the
gigantic pool tue western stockrnen we've
forming, he slowly crossed his legs, ex-
hsled cloud CT pale blue smoke, and
lookirg through It with visionary eyes, he
said:
81 was IN Denver Thursday, and while
there l met Mr.. Mercer, G man of sound
| sense and more than ordinary executive
ability, Whe is ct the head of the new
| organization. The enterprise, if it sue
ceeds, will be en- immense one, and will
| have the effect of raising the value OF
cattle.
"It is my opinion, however, that the
whole thing is visionary scheme
whereby the c.ttlemen entering the pool
hope to realize more money out Of their
investments. The plan, if it succeeds,
will raise the price OF cattle ana dressed
beef.
"Mr. A. S. Mercer is 8 live business
man from Wyoming, snd there is some.
! thing solid about his plan or it would no.
be SO heartily accepted and entered into
| 5y the Armours. Still the cettlemen in
in that section are constantly entering
into wild schemes TO advance the price OF
! cattle. This one may be successful, but
numerous Others have failed.
| 6 / talked with Mr.. Mercer and he re-
lated to me his plans At leogth. Some OF
them | considered meritorious, but have
no fully digested them and cannot, there
! fore, decide as 10 their practicability. He
told me that for some time past there had
| been gradual decline in the value Of
cattle. OF late this decline had been very
noticeable. 1t was evident to the west
ern cattlemen that something must be
done OF he margin Of profits to the pro-
ddcer would be lost entirely. The Armour
| brothers entered into the contract be-
! cause tie interests of the dressed
! beef operators lie il higher prices. He
ssid that many Of the plans had been in =
| practicable, but thst he felt assured the
present one would meet with success. He
said that million beeyes would be man-
aged by one gigantic concern and equi-
h6rium would be maintained between
the supply and demand. No unusual
th1ustS Of supplies would be made on the
market a decline in prices is always
more rspid than 81 Increase, hence it is
very difficult TO advance prices. By pool
ing Mr.. Mercer thought the number of
offerings on the market could be con-
trolled and regulated.
81 think the costs OF doing ell the
things the pool proposes will equal TIE